Bayern look to up the ante as Juve come to town

After 2-2 home draw, Italians need to score to qualify for Champions League quarter-finals

BERLIN: Bayern Munich are confident they have overcome a mini-crisis just in time for their Champions League last-16 second leg against Juventus today as they chase a treble.

After conceding two second-half goals to draw 2-2 in Turin last month, Bayern’s near flawless season stuttered as they took just one point from their next two league games.

They returned to form, however, on Saturday when they crushed Werder Bremen 5-0. “I think we showed that we are in a very good form and are looking towards Wednesday with optimism,” said Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

Bayern, chasing a record fourth consecutive Bundesliga title as well as the German Cup in what is coach Pep Guardiola’s last season in charge, are in the driving seat, having scored twice in Italy and Juve need to either win or draw with three or more goals to advance.



Bayern have a perfect home record in the competition this season, having beaten Dinamo Zagreb, Arsenal and Olympiakos with an aggregate score of 14-1. Until their shock 2-1 loss to Mainz 05 two weeks ago, Bayern had won 17 consecutive home games since May 2015.

But Guardiola warned qualification will not be easy. “We are playing against one of the best teams in Europe,” said the Spaniard. “They have not conceded a goal in their last 10 league games so expect a very complicated and uncomfortable game.”

Juventus are unbeaten in the league since October and having won 18 of their 19 league games since then.

Remarkably the Bianconeri have let in only one goal in 12 Serie A matches this year and kept an unprecedented 10th successive clean sheet in the 1-0 win over Sassuolo last week. “It will be a tremendous battle and we go to Munich full of enthusiasm and determination to reach the next round,” said defender Leonardo Bonucci. “We are aware of how strong Bayern are, but they also possess a few weak points which we will look to exploit.”

It is those weaknesses that Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri will seek to take advantage of, with his team looking for their first win in Munich since 2004. “When we play Bayern, we know we’re going to have to run hard for 90 minutes,” he said. “But it is our intention to go there looking for the win that would seal our passage.”



Barca clash highlights Arsenal’s missed Suarez chance

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admitted his side face an almost impossible task when they travel to face a red-hot Barcelona today, looking to overturn a 2-0 first-leg deficit to reach the quarter-finals for the first time in six years.

Arsenal had their chances to lead at the Emirates three weeks ago before Barca’s brilliant forward triumvirate of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez cut through them with an unerring ease they have made routine.

Messi, Neymar and Suarez have scored a combined 103 goals this season; Arsenal’s entire squad a mere 71.

Top of the list of Wenger’s detractors has been his inability or unwillingness to splash out on the top-class striker needed to turn Arsenal from perennial pretenders into winners. Yet, he tried to land Suarez whilst the Uruguayan was at Liverpool in 2013. In a tale of Arsenal’s penny-pinch culture under Wenger, they infuriated Liverpool by launching a bid one pound over Suarez’s reported £40 million buyout clause.

Next season, whilst others dithered, Barca pounced to sign the Uruguayan. Arsenal benefited in their own way from Suarez’s move as they snapped up Alexis Sanchez as Barca sold the Chilean to balance the books.



By swapping Sanchez for Suarez, Barca demonstrated that they shop in a different market to Arsenal. Sanchez won two major trophies in three years at Barca. His 47 goals in 141 games were a respectable return, but Suarez has already struck 67 in 84 appearances.

More importantly, Suarez has managed to succeed where other great strikers like Zlatan Ibrahimovic and David Villa failed in dovetailing perfectly with Messi. “Our relationship on and off the field is very good,” Suarez told La Vanguardia. “We all know Leo is the best, none of us try to beat him or even equal him.”

Yet, on goalscoring terms at least, Suarez has surpassed Messi this season with 42 in 41 games to the Argentine’s 36 in 36.

Stopping one is difficult, stopping all three of the South American trio has been an impossible task in the past 18 months.

Arsenal could have had Suarez on their side. Instead, when they line-up today at the Camp Nou, they will likely be made to suffer and wonder what could’ve have been once more. 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 16^th, 2016.

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